Take a Winter Break to Read

I am holding a “winter break to read” contest again this year.  Each student is to get a blue bookmark on Tuesday to take home for Winter Break. If they read 5 books (or for older students 500 pages) and have it signed by a parent, they are entered into a drawing for a prize.  Some of the prizes include lunch in the library, an extra book checkout, reading time with Mrs. Loder or Mrs. Newgard, and lots of other great prizes.  I have introduced this to your students in library and I hope you’ll support this promotion by encouraging your students to read.  The bookmarks must be returned by Wednesday, January 7 to qualify.  I hope we have a lot of participation!

If your child did not get a bookmark or lost it, you may print one off and turn it in.

© Mrs. Newgard, 2014

December Lego Creations

We have new Lego creations for December!  Thanks Ryan and Jack!

Photo Catchup

Some Library happenings from the last week!

New Lego Creations!

Thanks Joel and Zach for sharing your building creations with us!

Meet Duncan

Meet our newest library friend, Duncan!  Ask your students if they have met him!

Visiting the Lego Store

Mrs. Newgard visited the Lego Store over the weekend!  It was fun!

(c) Mrs. Newgard, 2014

New Lego Creations!

Our first two Lego creations are up in the Library!  Thanks Kate and Jake for your great displays!

Orchard Hill Elementary FIRST

Check out our Orchard Hill Elementary FIRST website: http://orchardhillfirst.weebly.com/ 
It involves students at Orchard Hill Elementary participating in FIRST Lego League and FIRST Junior Lego League.  What a fun way to sharpen the saw!

Wanted! Lego Creations!

We're looking for student Lego creations to be put in locked display cabinets for the library.  Read and fill out the permission slip if you're interested!

Do you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid?

Check out this poster for other books you might like!  These can all be found at our library!

(c) Mrs. Loder, 2014

Create your own Lego person!

(c) Mrs. Newgard, 2014

We created our own Lego people for the library.  Invite your students to make their own digital version too!
sigfigcreator.thelegomovie.com/

Library Essential Skills

What are essential library skills?

We focus our learning on:
1. Choosing good fit books
2. Searching and locating materials in the library and online
3. Digital citizenship and safety
4. Nonfiction text features

These essential skills are learned during library time through lessons, projects and hands-on practice. They ensure students are ready to be independent users of libraries, information, and technology after they leave Orchard Hill Elementary.

Choosing good fit books

Kindergarten

• I can pick fun books to read. 
• I can ask my library teacher or another adult for help finding books. 
• I can read the pictures, the words, or with someone. 

First-Third Grade

• I can use the “I PICK” strategy to choose a good fit book. 
• I can use the “Five Finger Test” to choose a good fit book. 

Fourth-Sixth Grade

• I can use my checkout history to evaluate what I read and to make a reading plan for myself. 
• I can use a browsing strategy to find books I want to read: 
• use the card catalog 
• check the special shelves (Children’s Choice, new books, graphic novels, etc.) 
• read the back, read the inside cover, or read the secret summary 
• I can use recommendations from Destiny Quest to find books I want to read. 

Search and Locate in the Library

Kindergarten

• I can find my favorite author’s shelf. 
• I can find my favorite non fiction shelf. 

First-Second Grade

• I can locate fiction books on the shelf using the author’s last name. 
• I can locate nonfiction books on the shelf using nonfiction neighborhoods. 

Third-Sixth Grade

• I can use the online card catalog to find books by author, title, subject and keyword. 
• I can use a call number to locate fiction and nonfiction on the shelf. 

Search and Locate Online

Kindergarten

• I can use links/bookmarks to find websites. 
• I can find the letters in my name on the keyboard. 

First-Second Grade

• I can use links/bookmarks to locate websites. 
• I can enter usernames and passwords to use digital resources. 

Third-Sixth Grade

• I can use the AEA online resources to locate information online. 
• I can choose effective keywords to use when searching online. 
• I can identify relevant and authoritative websites from a list of online search results. 

Digital Citizenship and Safety

Kindergarten

• I can follow school computer rules. 
• I can tell if I see something that makes me feel bad. 

First-Second Grade

• I can follow school computer rules. 
• I can be an upstander and tell if someone is making me or others feel bad. 
• I can stay safe online. I ask before sharing my name, address, or picture. 
• I can tell where I found pictures or words that are not mine. 

Third-Sixth Grade

• I can follow the district Acceptable Usage Policy by: 
• Protecting myself and others - keep information private and ask before I share online 
• Respecting myself and others - be kind and positive when sharing online. Report bullying 
• Respecting copyright - cite the source for all images, videos, music and information I use 
• Protecting school computers and devices - be careful and keep devices nice for everyone 

Nonfiction Text Features

Kindergarten

• I can find the front and back covers. 
• I can find the spine. 
• I can find the title page. 

First-Third Grade

• In first and second grade, I can identify headings, table of contents, glossary, and index 
• In third grade, I can create original nonfiction text features including table of contents, glossary, index, and map. 

Fourth-Sixth Grade

• In fourth and fifth grade, I can find information using table of contents, glossary, index, maps, charts and graphs. I can use a legend to interpret a chart, map, or graph. I can locate bibliographic information for citations. 
• In sixth grade, I can create informational texts that have a table of contents, glossary, index, map with a legend, charts. or graphs. I can locate bibliographic information and type a bibliography.

Reminder - Registration Tomorrow (July 31)

Just a reminder - Registration is tomorrow 9am-1pm and 3-7pm

ALA Summer Reading Lists

The American Library Association created summer reading lists for kids! They're separated into grade levels; K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. Enjoy!

Spine Label Poems

Fourth grade students created Spine Label Poems.  Click the link below to view them!

Poems

Genre Challenge - March

Congratulations to Ms. Shooks's class for reading the most Award Winning books in March! Her class earned 43 points!  Their class will receive a popcorn party in library sometime in April!

April's genre is Poetry.

All results:

3M -7 (-)

3R - 0 (=)

3S - 0 (=)

4D - 0 (=)

4H - 3 (-)
4S - 43 (-)

5G - 0 (=)

5P - 4 (+)

6H - 0 (=)

6S - 3 (-)

Target Readers Visit!

On Tuesday, readers from the Target Distribution Center came and read with our first and second graders.  They had a great time!  We were also gifted with $500 for our library and book room.  We are so lucky to have a great company in our community!

Book Brackets Update

Here are the results from Round 3!  We're down to the final 4!

Book Tournaments!

We have so many great things going on in the library!  Last week, we started a book battle.  It's a tournament style bracket with different books or book characters that the students enjoy.  We created a K-2 Character Bracket and a 3-6 Book Bracket.  We just finished our first round, here are the results!

I can't wait to see what Round 3 brings!

Genre Challenge - February

Congratulations to Ms. Shooks's class for reading the most Award Winning books in February!! Her class earned 105 points!  Their class will receive a popcorn party in library sometime in March!

March's genre is  Realistic Fiction.

All results:

3M -17 (+)

3R - 0 (-)

3S - 2 (-)

4D - 0 (-)

4H - 5 (+)
4S - 105 (+)

5G - 0 (-)

5P - 0 (=)

6H - 0 (=)

6S - 19 (-)

Genre Challenge - January

Congratulations to Mrs. Schwab's class for reading the most Biography books in January!! Her class earned 71 points!  Their class will receive a popcorn party in library sometime in February!

February's genre is  Award Winners (Newberry, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Geisel Award, current and old Iowa Children's Choice, etc.).  This does include honor books as well.

All results:

3M -5 (-)

3R - 2 (-)

3S - 6 (-)

4D - 5 (+)

4H - 0 (=)
4S - 40 (-)

5G - 2 (-)

5P - 0 (=)

6H - 0 (-)

6S - 71 (+)

Two Week Update - January

I let January get away from me!  Here is what's been happening in the library the last few weeks!

Kindergarten:  We started one of our most exciting units of the year!  We started our author study of Mo Willems.  We started by reading Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and learned how to draw the pigeon.  Then we learned about Elephant (Gerald) & Piggie by reading a few of their books and creating cartoons.

First Grade: We read The Hat by Jan Brett and compared it to The Mitten which we read the library class previous.  Now, we are starting our wordless book unit.  We read The Snowman and wrote about what we could do if we were a snowman that came alive at night.

Second Grade: We read Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems and wrote about what dinosaurs would do if they were alive today.  Now, we're looking at nonfiction text features using our research books.

Third Grade: We continued discussing how books are organized in the library and used the Mimio to help us practice!

Fourth Grade: We're wrapping up our learning of the nonfiction by reviewing the different Dewey sections and working on how to find the books we're looking for.

Fifth Grade: We studied different search engines to see which ones are the best for different things.  Then we learned how to "Google Like a Boss"!  We'll use those skills in an upcoming library class.

Sixth Grade: We finally finished our commercials and were able to watch them and vote!  Lots of great work done by the sixth graders!!

Weekly Update - January 9

It feels like a long time since our last Weekly Update!  It has been great in the library!

Kindergarten:  We looked at the difference between fiction and nonfiction books.  We read a nonfiction book Sniffles, Sneezes, Hiccups, and Coughs by Penny Raife Durant.  We were able to sort fiction and nonfiction books too!

First Grade: We read The Mitten by Jan Brett and talked about predicting.  We also wrote about our favorite part and what would fit into our mitten.

Second Grade: We read The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbra Kerley and listened to Brian Selznick talk about creating the illustrations.  This ties into the second grade dinosaur study.

Third Grade: Now that we know how to use the catalog we're learning how to find things we want.  We started talking about how our library is organized and how books are shelved.  This is a conversation we will continue for a few library classes.

Fourth Grade: We're continuing with Locked in the Library but extending it to finding things in the library and using the catalog to find what is available.  

Fifth Grade: We discussed what we found for explorers and talked about the importance of verifying information we find online.  We should be able to find each fact in at least two different locations to make sure it is correct!

Sixth Grade: We FINALLY finished our commercials!  We're ready to watch them and vote on our favorites!  I can't wait to see who will win!